For Samsung, the stakes couldn’t be higher, as underscored by a lavish launch event yesterday at New York’s Lincoln Center.

QLED aside, the latest iteration in its flagship Galaxy S smartphone series is the vendor's first high-profile introduction since the twin Note7 and top-load washer debacles last fall, and the pressure was on to get it right.

DJ Koh, president of Samsung’s mobile communications business, acknowledged as much in his remarks before a global, live-streamed audience, describing “a challenging year filled with lessons and new beginnings.”

The setbacks, he said, were a humbling experience, but the company learned from its mistakes, and “this is how new doors open.”

Whether, as Koh suggested, the S8 is a “milestone device” that ushers in a “new era of smartphone design, services and possibilities,” remains to be seen, pending consumer response, battery performance and a much anticipated showdown with iPhone 8 this fall.

But this much is clear: Between the Galaxy’s slam-dunk design and Samsung’s vision for an all-inclusive IoT, all sins are forgiven.